US Coast Guard Shells Japanese Vessel Off Alaskan Coast

Reuters photo

Just thought I'd recycle some headlines from 1942, however misleading.
A derelict Japanese fishing vessel that was washed out to sea during last year's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan has drifted into waters off the coast of Alaska in the last year or so.

Officials from the United States Coast Guard made the decision to sink the abandoned vessel with heavy weaponry after determining the 164 foot Ryou Un Maru was a navigational hazard.

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter unleashed cannon fire on the abandoned 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru on Thursday, ending a journey that began when last year's tsunami dislodged it and set it adrift across the Pacific Ocean.

It sank into waters more than 1,000 feet deep in the Gulf of Alaska, more than 150 miles from land.

The crew pummeled the ghost ship with high explosive ammunition and, soon after, the Ryou-Un Maru burst into flames, began to take on water and list, officials said.

A huge column of smoke could be seen over the gulf.

The Coast Guard warned mariners to stay away, and aviation authorities did the same for pilots. A Coast Guard C-130 plane crew monitored the operation.

In about four hours, the ship vanished into the water, said Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow in Juneau.

Officials decided to sink the ship, rather than risk the chance of it running aground or endangering other vessels in the busy shipping lanes between North America and Asia.

The ship had no lights or communications system and its tank was able to carry more than 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Officials, however, didn't know how much fuel, if any, was aboard.

"It's less risky than it would be running into shore or running into (maritime) traffic," Webb said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency studied the problem and decided it is safer to sink the ship and let the fuel evaporate in the open water.

The vessel was in Hokkaido, destined for the scrappers torch when it was swept out to sea in the devastating magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck on March 11, 2011.

Graphic courtesy

Vancouver Sun

The derelict fishing vessel was first spotted off the northwestern coast of Vancouver Island on March 20th. The ship continued drifting north before it was spotted off of Forrester Island in southern Alaska at the end of March. A Canadian fishing vessel had claimed salvage rights to the Ryou Un Maru but the US Coast Guard announced they would go ahead with plans to sink it if the Canadians were unable to secure the ghost ship. When the Canadian crew was unable to secure the vessel, the Coast Guard waited for them to clear the area. Once clear, the crew of the cutter USCG Anacapa opened up on the derelict with 25mm high explosive rounds.
Japan's Oceanic and Meteorological Agency estimates that nearly 5 million tons of debris were swept out into the Pacific Ocean after the tsunami. While most of that was concrete, Japanese researchers estimate that 30% of the debris is still afloat in the form of homes and boats that were docked at the time of the tsunami. Scientists in Japan and experts from the University of Hawaii's International Pacific Research Center are designing a complex computer model to try and predict where the ocean's currents will pull the remaining debris. The Ryou Un Maru is believed to be part of the advance guard of the massive debris field, which some estimate to be as large as 3100 by 1200 miles.
Residents in southeastern Alaskan towns such as Ketchican and Sitka have reported finding basketball-sized buoys washed ashore- the buoys are thought to be from Japanese oyster farms. The first known landfall of the debris in Alaska was back in January of this year near Yakutat.